Some inspiration from Britain's Got Talent 2009.

I thought I'd post this video from the final of "Britain's Got Talent" which I found inspiring and encouraging too.
Talent shows are a great way to get exposure, learn a little of how the entertainment industry works and to get some critique.
This musician (Julian Smith) made it to 3rd place in the finals - not bad considering the other contestants were in different fields (dance and vocalist).
His playing was excellent and there was feeling in his performance.
Well Done Julian.

An easier way to master riffs

Riffmaster Pro is a really nice piece of software that helps you to master those difficult riffs and solos.
It does this by slowing down the music without affecting pitch.
(Or you can adjust the pitch on it's own without changing the track speed).
You can easily import tracks you want to learn, tweak them to how you want and loop selections so you can then play along. Learn the whole riff or just a part and put it all together at your own pace.
Visit the Riffmaster Pro website

Christian Rap Beats and Gospel Rap Beats for download.

New to the web is a site that offers Christian rap and gospel beats for use by unsigned independent artists at a very affordable price.
The Incredibeats have put together some interesting grooves which may be just what an artist needs for that touch of inspiration.
While I personally am not a big fan of rap, some of the tracks where quite good and fine for demo use or a live show. A great alternative if you are a budding christian artist and need some help getting started.

Visit the site.

Learning the piano and keyboard made easy.

Several months ago I was discussing music with a work colleague and how we wanted to develop our musical skills (and the huge number of tutorials and courses out there that you can purchase and how they vary in quality).
Colin was keen on the keyboard and I mentioned to him the frustration I had in trying to find a decent set of beginner piano lessons aimed more towards adults that would help me to get a handle on playing for myself.
He told me about a great set of tutorials from Pianoforall that he found useful and he showed me a few of the lessons.
I purchased the series for myself and took it for a test drive and was pleasantly surprised.

Basically what you get for your money is a series of 10 PDF ebooks embedded with 500 Audio clips and 200 Videos that explain everything in an easy to understand format.
The books take you from the basics through to more advanced playing in a series of steps so you don't get lost (and you don't play boring material!).
The author, Robin Hall has really put a great deal of thought into this program and it shows.
Currently for a limited time Robin is offering his course for half price ($39.95) so it would be worth grabbing a copy either for yourself or as a gift for a friend.

Visit www.pianoforall.com

A greatl site for finding Live acts for hire.

Are you looking for live entertainers and performers to add to your next gig, wedding, party or corporate event?
www.talentainer.com could be just the ticket (no pun intended).
This is a video driven site - a performer's video directory if you like where you can go to see video footage of the various acts before making the decision to hire them.

I loved watching many of the acts here (some were absolutely brilliant) and how the you could preview live performances before hiring them through the site.
There was everything here from comedy to juggling to live bands and magicians - a real mix of talent (better than Youtube I think because it is specifically designed to make it easy to find the acts you are searching for - and no annoying ads plus the postings are by professionals who are in the entertainment frame of mind).

This is good news for people looking for quality performers - without any flops.

Here is a must see - would be great for any event I think Ventriloquist kjthebirdman on Talentainer.com

As a sideline it's also great for quality acts wanting to promote themselves to a wider audience.
Looks like a win win situation all round.
Check out the videos at Talentainer.com

Ps: Looking for a comedian? Check out Frankie - (very funny) and the other great acts.

What do you have to do to get a record deal?

Brett Manning is a professional singing coach who works with both novices and major label artists. Below is his advice on what you need to do to become record deal material.


Building a Successful Sound
-by Brett Manning

Three years ago, I signed a distribution deal with Media Products in Barcelona, Spain, for the translating and marketing of the Singing Success Program, thanks to a man named Paul Zamek. Paul is responsible for the overseas licensing of many major American recording artists. (His largest client, Kenny Rogers, has sold over 100 million albums worldwide!) I met Paul on a flight to Club Med, and he became intrigued with my approach to teaching the human voice. He wanted to know how I'd advise an amateur singer looking to become a commercial success.

First, train the voice as you would train your body. Understand that you have muscles that can be developed in the same way athletes train their muscles. Singing is fairly easy, with tiny muscles involved in coordinating the voice and subtle exercises required to develop their coordination. I have taught thousands of girls to sing as high as Mariah Carey and have safely developed a convincing commercial sound with even the most rigidly trained classical singers. Just remember that correct technique is necessary before moving toward a record deal, because you will need consistency and longevity if you really want to make it.

Second, develop your "style ear" and your vocal coordinations to sing the rapid licks, trills, and runs consistent with today's pop-singing styles. You must also develop your unique version of a commercial sound. A straight purist voice (one dominated by a heady/classical sound) has little chance of competing with Jewel, Christina, Mariah, or Celine.

Third, do your own thing after you've learned everyone else's tricks. You have to get as close as possible to your natural talking voice and make your singing more like speech on pitch. If you change your tone quality so that you are talking in one voice and singing in another, you've lost the very qualities that make your voice distinctive. You'll also have a harder time sustaining your vocal health.

When I first explained this ideology to Paul, he freaked out, then drew a big smiley face on a yellow legal pad and said, "Your voice is as distinctive as your face." How many times do you answer the phone and hear, "Hey girl," and know exactly who it is without hearing another word? We are sometimes still amazed at this, because most of us don't have voices as recognizable as Fran Drescher (The Nanny), Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jennifer Tilly, James Earl Jones, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, or the late sports announcer Howard Cosell. You don't need a "character" voice like these people to be distinctive; God already took care of that when he created the equivalent to a thumbprint in your voice. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars to develop technology that can recognize a particular voice. The multiple frequencies produced by your unique voice are your ticket into the recording industry, and making the most of them is what I've spent the last 15 years of my life teaching people to do.
People e-mail me with career questions from all over the world, and many of them ask the same thing: What do I have to do to get a record deal?
Here's the answer you usually hear: "Headshot, bio, and demo." And yes, those items certainly have helped many people get started in the recording industry. Some have even added a video or showcase to the requirement, because singers also have to be performers. But other than preparing all of these self-promotions and throwing yourself into the brutally competitive music industry, what else can you do to increase your likelihood of landing that record deal you've dreamed about since you were barely old enough to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star?" Here are three other important goals to reach for:

First, increase your vocal range. The greater your range, the more exciting and confident your singing will be. Find a coach who can teach you how to mix your chest voice (speaking voice) with your head voice (your softer, lighter, classical-sounding voice). This "mixed voice" is much thicker than pure head voice, but has more frequencies than a belted chest voice (which is also the leading cause of vocal nodules). The "mixed voice" has the best of both worlds, which is why so many top Grammy winners sing in this vocal register. You must learn the "mix" if you want a commercial sound, effortless vocalizing, and a healthy voice. (The Singing Success Program can help you with this.)

Second, find as many influences as possible. Influences are inescapable. The real question is, do you have enough of them to keep you from sounding exactly like your favorite artist? We don't need another Celine Dion. I have coached dozens of young women who can now sing almost exactly like Celine; but who wants a counterfeit when the real thing is already available? If you have enough diverse vocal influences, you will find a little piece of yourself in each one of them.

Third, make a decision to find your unique voice and spend the rest of your life devoted to developing it. Don't quit your day job until your career takes off, and your office gig can be replaced with a Broadway contract or record deal. But give every extra buck, hour, and emotion to this endeavor. You don't want to look back and say, "If only." You are unique and you have dreams. Dreams are visions wearing work clothes. The world advances, not through those who give up on their visions, but through those who stand until their labor and talent takes form.
So how about you?...
Are you ready to kick-start your musical career?
Check out our complete line of artist development packages.

Myspace in the music business and what it means for indie artists.

I received this interesting take on moves by MySpace to get into the music business.
Thanks to Brian Austin Whitney from Just Plain Folks for allowing me to publish this article.

Written by Brian Austin Whitney
Visit the Website: www.jpfolks.com
Mail CD's @ 5327 Kit Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46237
Copyright 2008 Just Plain Folks Productions.
Just Plain Folks Member Population: 46,519
***************************************************
Just Plain Quotes:

"Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which
ones to keep." -Scott Adams

"There's no business like show business, but there are several
businesses like accounting." -David Letterman

"We believe that an artist, in order to be true to himself and his
work, must be a free man." -John F. Kennedy

"Freedom is a relative thing. It's often determined more by what you
allow yourself to do than what others allow." -Brian Austin Whitney

My Take:

As I was putting this newsletter together, a big announcement was made
about MySpace Music signing a deal with 3 of the 4 major labels (with
indications the 4th, EMI may follow suit soon). Ive heard all sorts
of excitement about this deal from our members. But I suggest using a
great deal of caution and some healthy skepticism as to whether this is
really a good turn of events or not.

The jist of the deal is that MySpace can't afford to pay the
licensing on major label content so they're going around that problem by
giving part ownership to each of the labels of a spin off from MySpace.
This new stand alone MySpace Music will offer free streaming music of
the entire major label catalogs in exchange for sharing the income from
advertising and subscription fees from a download program (which
hasnt yet been defined). In addition, it is offering the labels
participation in merchandise sales and ticket sales and any other commercial
exploitation of their catalog. This is very attractive to the labels of
course because right now they only make money from the recorded music.
But I don’t view this as a good thing for artists, especially those
who make up 99.9% of the artists already on MySpace Music.

MySpace Music claims they have 5 million major label, independent and
unsigned artist pages on their site. (By the way, I am strongly
suspicious of that number, but I'll roll with it for now). I visited all 4
major label sites and counted up the rosters listed for each. The
number was under 1000 total. If their numbers are correct, that means that
the label artists make up less than 1/50th of 1% of the pages. The
other 4,999,000 are from the indie and grassroots music communities. So
while these negotiations are happening, I have to ask the obvious
question: Who is watching out for and representing all of us (our
grassroots/indie community), the 99.995% who collectively make MySpace Music what
it is? As far as I am aware, the answer is no one. That should be a
concern to any non-label artist on that site.

If the majors are going to be co-owners of the new site, what would
make any of us believe that they would treat the artists/writers not on
their labels fairly? After all, these are the same people who have thumbed
their nose at fair competition with schemes such as radio payola for
many years. The major label system has regularly shut indies/grassroots
artists out of significant radio play, off most shelves at record
stores, out of corporate controlled music venues and relegated to the
commercial music equivalent of the "back of the bus." These are going
to be the new owners/gatekeepers for MySpace Music? Really?

Now, perhaps utopia will prevail and the new company will find a fair
and transparent way to compensate all 5 million artists for the traffic
they bring to the site to increase ad revenue. Perhaps they'll pay
our folks the same rate per play that they'll pay the majors.
Miracles sometimes do happen. But without any representation behind the
scenes, thats a pretty big leap of faith to make. It's been stated that
the major labels will have representatives on the board of the new
company. Maybe we can hope for some board representation for the
indie/grassroots community as well. But none has been offered so far. In the
meantime, a site that was populated and made popular by the folks from
the grassroots/indie community first is now being assimilated by the
“Borg-Like” corporate major label system. Once again, the little guy
helps blaze the trail and the big guy swoops in and gets the money and
benefit.

This deal isn't happening in a vacuum. For the last 10 years the
indie and grassroots music community has found a way to survive and thrive
outside the label system. Expect those stodgy old labels to swoop in
on every other good idea and approach used by all of us. Weve
collectively led the way and now the modern day carpet baggers are coming.
This week I heard about a major label head who thought he'd come up
with an original, earth shaking idea that was going to change the entire
music industry as we know it. His idea? He wants to launch an all
digital label that will release music directly to the web for
download only. Somebody hasnt apparently told him that the idea was more
than 10 years old and has been happening all over the web in the indie
community and by countless start up companies for years.

Heres a link to our message board where we're discussing this and
where you can find multiple links with more information about this new
deal.http://www.jpfolks.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/604077/page/1#Post604077